The state chronicle. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1883-1893, 1887-07-14
ABOUT NORTH CAROLINA.
THE CIIMATOLOGICA LINK BE.
TWEEN VERMONT AND LOUISIANA
The w OsDd land Wealth and Water Pow.
er of the State--Its Mineral supply and
Homogeneous Citizenship.


Surveyor q General Lawson in 1910 de-
scribed the section south of Virginia as "a
delicious country, being placed in that
girdle of the world which affords wine,
oil, fruit, grain, and silk with other rich
commodities, besides a sweet air, moder-
ate climate and fertile soil These are the
blessings under heavens protection tnat
spin out the thread of life to its utmost
extent, and crown our days with the
sweets Of health and plenty; and when
joined with content render the possessors
the happiest race upon the earth" " In
1887, after the lapse of II. years, a writer
in popular magazine says Western
North Carolina is the eliminating point of
the great Appalachian system. the region
where peaks and valleys alike attain their
highest altitude and where nature in her
most prodigal mood has lavshed every
gift that can make a country desirable
scerory unsurpassed for wild loveliness; a
llfe-glvlng climate, at once invigorating
and balmy; an atmosphere SO exquisite
that through its medium color becomes a
new revelation; skies SO soft and brilliant
that they are a perpetual delight soil SO
rich that even the steepest mountain sides
repay cultivation; valleys watered by crys-
tal streams. the pictures Of pastoral fer
tlllty; lneNhauStihe forests of magnificent
1lmberS and valuable mineral wealth hith-
erto scarcely explored at all.
The present tendency in this country to
seek homes where lands are cheaper aud
where the pressure from populOusness is
less has led the writer to state some of the
natural resources and material advantages
offered III the land beyond the Virginias
The State of North Carolina covers an
a rea OF o. ,2e6 square miles, or 33, 463, O40
acres OF this surface 2,155, $50 acres are
under water, 7,219, 1S5 acres are improved
aud under cultivation, 5,215, 900 acres are
waste lands being rapidly improved by
second growth, 6,1S1, 2SO acres are swamp
lands belonging to the State, so, 900 acres
are an Indian reservation for an eastern
band OF Cherokees. and -, ,043. 315 acres
are in original forests. The flora of this
State IS kind of transition between the
northern and southern botanical districts,
since in her boundaries many northern
plants have their southern limits and some
which orln peculiar feature of southern
vegetation commence The great altitude
of the western border makes a difference
Of 10 or II degrees OF latitude: so in that
section may be found many species such
as belong to the White Mts of New Hamp-
shire.
In the 12,O43,315 acres of original
growth there is almost bewildering num-
Der and variety of trees, such as yellow,
Jersey, prickley, pitch, pond, loblolly,
long leaf and white pine, all in abundance.
Also black spruce, white and hemlock
spruce, ba sam, fir, juniper, cypress, wal
nut, holly, yopon, linden, birch, magnolia,
palmetto and the bay, nearly all of which
are IN sufficient quantity to be valuable in
the arts. In fact recent and painstaking
research has pointed out of Towering
plants, eXogenOus, l, 1862 species; endogen
Gus, 81 species; of tiowerless plants, 532
species; of fungi, 1882 species; of characea,
, species, and of algae, so species; thus
making a total of 4,s94 species of vege-
table life in North Carolina
East of the Rocky Mountains in the
United States we find of oaks % species,
in North Carolina, 19 species; of pines
species, in North Carolina s; of spruces 5,
in North Carolina, 4 of elms ), in North
Carolin, 3; of walnuts ?, in North Caro-
'lina, 2; of blrches D. in North Carolina, J;
of NAPLES 5, in North Carolina, 8; of hick
cries 8, in North Carolina, 6: of magnolias
:, in North Carolina, Z.
In the mountains of this State, the
white pine, hickory birch, wild cherry
and maple are not only very abundant,
but they are also very valuable. For 15
eastern counties, the Forest Bulletin, No.
s, from the United States census Office,
gives the amount of merchantable long
leaf pine as follows: Bladen, 2oS, 900, 900
feet; Brunswick, 141, 900, ,0OQ: Chatham,
44o, 600, 900; Columbus, 2ss, 900, 900; Cum
berland, 500, 600, 900; Duplin, 21 600, 900;
Harnett, 4S6, 600, 900; Johnston, 5G3, O0O,~
600; Moore, 5O4, 900, 900; New Hanover,
90, 600, 900; Onslow, "a 900, 900; Robson,
S64, 900, 900; Sampson, 602, 900, 900; Wake,
As, 600, 900; Wayne, 40, 900, 600. Total, s.
229, 0Oo, 900 feet.
Moreover the amount of cypress in these
and the adjoining counties is too vast for
calculation. We see at once that the kind
of trees which characterize this flora are
most valuable in the arts. The long leaf
pine alone is the basis of extensive indus
tries whose annual income is no less than
So, 500, 900; while of the twenty kinds of
timber admitted to the New York ship
yards as suitable for building vessels,
North Carolina can supply no fewer than
eighteen.
The same unsparing hand has with gen
erous profusion enriched the rocks with
ores and minerals, running through an
amazing variety from gold, diamond and
the lithia- emerald, ''hiddenite gen." to
coal, iron, and the inexhaustible beds of
many -colored mica.
To the honest workmen seeking homes,
the North State offers all soils for all crops
from Pennsylvania wheat to Louisiana cot
ton, and all temperatures known to cii-
matology from the hot blasts of the sunny
southern slopes to the biting breezes
that chill the highest peaks of the Atlantic
Mountain range while single river with
in her borders furnishes water power
enough to spin and weave the whole cot
ton crop of the South.
North Carolina has the purest English
speaking citisenships in the American
Union, for all statistics give her the few
est foreigners and the most homogeneous
population. In fact there is kind of
consanguineous tie of sympathetic union
and fellow feeling taking in the whole
Saxon lineage from Tennessee to tide
water.
Never in the past were there more en-
terprise and prosperity among her people
than to-day; the amount of capital invest
ed in successful business is greater, and
the State and individual debt is less than
at any time within the past so years. In
Henderson, Durham, Reidsville and Win
ston, every day fancy tobaccoes are throw n
on the market, and the producer goes
home with from 5000 to 81 200 for nearly
every good two-horse load.
But common candor and justice compel
me to say that only those who have been
educated to make fine tobaccoes, can gen
orally realize fancy prices; and that every
one wishing to buY land in anV Southern